


In Other Words

by royal_chandler



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Karaoke, M/M, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 04:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11028903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/royal_chandler/pseuds/royal_chandler
Summary: “Did you know he could sing?” Poe asks in a shocked whisper, unblinking like his boyfriend.“Not a clue,” Rey answers as the song reaches its famous lines, feeling her heart swell alongside the music.





	In Other Words

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this lovely [video](http://shwtlee4reylo.tumblr.com/post/161150795897/fbonded2ka-angrydragonpuppy-1captainswan1) of Adam Driver singing Italian and spirited by a couple tequila sunrises.

“Woo! Rey ‘Jazz Hands’ Jakkson!” Poe exclaims when Rey rejoins the group at the table, finishing with a two-fingered whistle.

She does another flashy, finger-sparkling display with a smirk before taking her seat. “Visual performance makes a good distraction when you’re practically tone-deaf.”

Not that the crowd at Maz’s is a particularly critical bunch, especially on this Friday night, steeped in craft beer and too busy with conversation after a stressful period of exams. She doubts anyone aside from her friends had even noticed on her stage or was able to catch her stumbling over the second verse of 24K Magic. It just goes so freaking fast.

“It wasn’t bad, honestly,” Finn reassures her. “Remember the first time you got up there and almost pulled a Pitch Perfect level of projectile vomit? You can literally go nowhere but up.”

Rey laughs out her reply, “Thanks for that reminder.”

“Don’t be heard on yourself. You did great,” Kylo says after a moment. He wears a kind smile on his face and Rey can’t help but return it, warm with it, almost giddy with it. Most likely nauseating if Poe’s and Finn’s reactions are anything to go by.

“Oh so when Kylo says it, it’s true?” They tease in a strange near unison.

“Fuck off.” Kylo throws back lightly and with a smirk.

At times like this Rey has to mentally fight to keep her tongue, remind herself that they’re all a long way from freshman year. The hostility that had once been commonplace is longer the tenor of their verbal barbs, their jokes easy if a little awkward. However, it’s better than Rey had imagined after five weeks–well, truthfully, five weeks and two years –of this thing between she and Kylo. A thing they still had yet to name and underwhelm with a label. 

“Looks like no one signed up after you, Rey,” Finn says pointedly. Talking to her but actually peering his gaze to her right. He wiggles his eyebrows.

“What? No. Stop.”

“He’s the only one without a turn.”

“Finn—”

She starts but Kylo is already standing. He sets his beer bottle down after coaxing a couple pulls from its neck.

“Really?” She stares after him in bewilderment. “You, Kylo Ren, are letting yourself be peer pressured into karaoke?”

“Really,” he says setting his drink back down and straightening.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want. It’s not a big deal,” she tells him softly but Rey knows he’s already made up his mind. To do this. To prove to himself he could belong. Paying no attention to the looks, the whispers, and the shush of the crowd, he heads toward the lights of the small stage.

Finn and Poe are trying to make a guess at what song Kylo will choose as they watch him search through the karaoke machine’s music library. He appears frustrated at times, seemingly have made his choice but going back. After a minute or possibly four passes, he’s in front of the mic, plucking it from the stand with uneasy hands.

Rey begins the applause that tentatively grows.

The first piano chords are a flourish of keys and it sounds vaguely familiar but Rey can’t place it before Kylo’s smooth baritone rings through the establishment and stuns everyone into silence. He shifts uncertain, his face a knot of worry, but when their eyes meet, Rey bears a double thumbs up with no hesitation. He’s then crooning, his voice rich and amazing, his lips turned up in a handsome smile.

“Did you know he could sing?” Poe asks in a shocked whisper, unblinking like his boyfriend.

“Not a clue,” Rey answers as the song reaches its famous lines, feeling her heart swell alongside the music.

_Fly me to the moon_  
And let me play among the stars  
Let me see what spring is like  
On Jupiter and Mars 

The song doesn’t have the bouncy tempo of Sinatra’s version, it’s lazy in it’s build and allows Kylo to embrace the lower register of his voice. He sings the phrases of the song with a care that is transfixing and Rey can’t look away from him, the way his eyes glint underneath the lighting. The naked affection that is without question intended for her.

The lyrics are carried with purpose.

_In other words, hold my hand  
In other words, darling kiss me_

The instrumental of the song is at the forefront for a short moment and the crowd cheers during the break, a few whistles and claps when he crescendos as Kylo begs for his heart to be filled with song and to be allowed to sing forever.

And like he’s aching with the admission:

_You are all I long for  
All I worship and adore_

The music slows and becomes soft, the strings sighing.

_In other words, please be true  
In other words, I love you_

It finishes with a hum, a dance between keys and the bar erupts, tearing into the soft intimacy. Kylo breaks eye contact as though remembering himself and where he is–disillusioned and displaced by the fact that they’re not the only two people in existence. Rey can sympathize all too well, suddenly overwhelmed with a rabbiting heartbeat and a love she’s been so afraid to have realized.

He doesn’t return with the same confidence, a tall frame of nerves and caution and doubt. He nods at Poe’s and Finn’s praise, appreciative. Hesitation is how he greets her, starts to speak and stops. He tries again, “Rey. I couldn’t—”

Rey reaches out and takes Kylo’s hand in her, fits her fingers into the echoes of his. Let’s him off easy. She leans in until the brown of his eyes shift into multiple hues and catches his mouth in a short kiss, a rare public offering. He rests his forehead against hers and his smile as well.

“You are officially the most overdramatic person I’ve ever met,” she tells him privately. “That was amazing.”

“They weren’t enough,” he begins. “My words wouldn’t have been enough.”

Rey shakes her head. “You’re wrong. I hope you know that I’m going to be dragging you out here every week from now on.”

Kylo laughs. “I deserve that.”

She gets a loose handful of his hair, tugs on it lightly. “Yeah, you do.”

**fin**

**Author's Note:**

> Kylo sings Tony Bennet's rendition of "Fly Me to the Moon."


End file.
